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<blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 1067" data-attributes="member: 99"><p><strong>Icecapades</strong></p><p></p><p>The party girded themselves for battle, knowing that before the day was out they may well find themselves under attack by a substantial portion of the orcish army. All of them were grim at the prospect and especially Speaks with Stone. He knew that going into the midst of the orcs could well be a fatal mistake and that a large part of the reason the party was doing this was because of him. But nobody considered backing out.</p><p></p><p>Speaks handed Krase his Amulet of Communication and transformed himself into a wolf. Krase then placed the amulet back around the neck of the lupine and Speaks took the lead, following the tracks that Arc had left the night before. The rest of the party fell into line.</p><p></p><p>A short while later, the party could see that the woods were thinning ahead and could smell the smell of wood smoke. The reasoned that they must be at the northern edge of the clearing. They proceeded with caution.</p><p></p><p>Up front, Speaks in wolf form spotted a pair of orcish pickets standing a short way inside the treeline from the clearing. At almost the same moment, one of the orcs also spotted him. The orc was heard to yell, "It is another of the wolves! We must tell the shamans!" He turned and ran into the clearing, followed closely by his compatriot. With the rest of the party well behind him, Speaks figure that they had little chance of killing the fleeing pickets before they reached the ice fortress. Instead, the group approached the edge of the clearing where they would enjoy a good vantage point for observing any approaching orcs while still having the cover of the forest.</p><p></p><p>As they came closer, they began to notice an eerie quiet that they would not expect from an encampment of nearly a thousand orcs. Speaks had made his way to the edge of the clearing already and the rest of the party took up a position some 80 feet west of him. Once they could see into the clearing, they understood the reason for the quiet: There were no orcs anywhere to be seen. Then they realized that, listening intently, they could hear yelling in the distance. There were sounds of battle to the south. The ice fortress blocked their view but it was obvious that the orcs must have been assaulting the hill fort at that very moment!</p><p></p><p>They had little time to contemplate the implications of this however, as a half dozen orcs emerged from the ice fortress and headed in their direction. Speaks transformed back into his human form and the party readied their missile weapons and waited for the orcs to come within range. But before the party fired a single shot, the orcs stopped and their shamans cast spells.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, the area around Krase and Rhys was thoroughly entangled in sticky webs like those of a spider. An instant later, Speaks was in the middle of a similar situation. Ilrath, just a few feet from where Rhys was entangled had escaped the sticky strands. He looked up to find the orcs charging in the direction of his helpless companions.</p><p></p><p>Without a second thought, Ilrath charged from cover and into the midst of the orcs, swinging Slashbane with abandon. Two of the orcs fell before they could react. Two others moved around to flank Ilrath while one of the shamans stepped forward and touched the barbarian, sending a shocking jolt through him.</p><p></p><p>As the rest of the party struggled in vain to escape the webs, Ilrath yelled a war cry and sliced the offending shaman in twain with Slashbane. The force of the blow carried through into one of the warriors next to him, severely wounding him. Both warriors hacked at the mighty barbarian but their blows slid harmlessly off of his dwarven forged, mithral, breastplate.</p><p></p><p>Seeing that he was unlikely to survive the next few seconds unless he took drastic measures, the shaman conjured a globe of darkness around himself, Ilrath and both of the remaining orcish warriors. Still, Ilrath had seen both orcs only a moment before. He swung his axe and felt it sink into orcish flesh before him. He continued his swing around and again found his mark.</p><p></p><p>Rhys had never actually been entangled in the webs conjured by the shamans but it had taken him some time to pick his way through the strands to get outside of the ball of sticky strands. Now he was clear and looking up, he saw a large ball of darkness. Beyond it, he could see one of the orcs fleeing back to the ice fortress. Those were all the observations he had time for as he heard Speaks calling for him.</p><p></p><p>Ilrath was unsure of whether he had slain the last of the orcs inside the darkness. He also wasn't sure if the orcs could see through the inky blackness or not. He spent the next few seconds flailing around wildly with Slashbane as he stumbled forwards to escape the darkness.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Speaks had cast a spell upon himself to protect him from fire. He then entreated Rhys to use his wand of Burning Hands to burn through the webs. Rhys did as he bade and in moments, the druid was free of the webs. They then turned their attentions to where Krase was stuck.</p><p></p><p>Ilrath had since made his way out of the darkness. He saw the one remaining shaman climbing a set of stairs that wound up the outside of ice fortress. Glancing back to see that his companions were all right, he gave chase to the fortress.</p><p></p><p>Rhys was considering freeing Krase from the webs the same way he had freed Speaks. Krase wouldn't have the benefit of the Protection from Fire spell of course. But the flames weren't that hot. Ultimately he decided against that course of action, not out of any concern for Krase but because Tavis, his familiar, was also trapped inside the same cluster of webs.</p><p></p><p>Krase, never the strongest member of the party, continued to struggle against the firm hold of the webs. He was confident that he would get out eventually (as soon as he rolled a 19 or better) but for the moment was still stuck.</p><p></p><p>Ilrath raced across the trampled snow and began his way up the stairs chiseled into the side of the fortress. The stairs were naturally slippery but the Boots of the Winterlands he wore gave him good footing regardless. He continued his way to the top of the fortress where the shaman awaited him. Seeing that their barbarian friend may have been getting in over his head, Speaks and Rhys ran after him to lend their aid.</p><p></p><p>Ilrath mounted the last few steps and found himself atop the fortress, face to face with the shaman. In a last desperate attempt to ward off the mighty warrior, the shaman raised his hands and let fly with a jet of flames that engulfed Ilrath. But Ilrath shrugged off the searing pain and brought Slashbane down in a tremendous blow that split the shaman's skull in two.</p><p></p><p>For the moment, Ilrath was without a foe facing him and he turned around to survey things from the top of the ice fortress. He stared to the south to see that smoke surrounded the top of the hill fort. Several sections of the palisade were on fire and he could tell that fierce fighting was taking place where it had been breached. And surging forward, pushing and jostling their way toward the gaps in the palisade were far, far too many orcs for his people to hold against. Ilrath unconsciously swung Slashbane through the air in a gesture of frustration. Then he spoke aloud to those who could not hear, "Fight well my brothers and I will do what I can at this end!" He descended the ice stairs to seek a way inside the ice fortress to slay whatever enemies it held.</p><p></p><p>As Ilrath was coming down, Rhys was going up. The agile youth had experienced little trouble negotiating the icy steps and, finding that Ilrath needed no help as of yet, ascended to get a better view. Below a grim realization was occurring.</p><p></p><p>Speaks was afraid that at any moment, a flood of orcs would appear from the relatively small opening at the base of the fortress. He sprinted there to plug that exit until Ilrath or Krase (who was just now making his way clear of the last of the web strands) could assist him. When he got there, it was not orcs he found. It was Arc.</p><p></p><p>Or, rather, what had once been Arc. What stood before Speaks now was the animated, stinking, charred corpse of his faithful companion. Speaks desperately sought Arc's eyes for any sign of recognition but he found only a pale blue malevolent glow. The Arc-Thing lunged for Speaks.</p><p></p><p>The druid easily dodged the slow clumsy movements of the undead wolf. He tried to believe that the wolf moved so slowly because somewhere deep down, Arc was still there, fighting the evil presence within his flesh. But he had seen firsthand the re-animated forms of the wolves the orcs rode and knew that there was no vestige of the natural remaining in the creature before him. Speaks stabbed the thing that wore the flesh of his friend. He stabbed it again and again until it lay still, whatever evil force that had inhabited the wolf body, driven away by the violence done to it by the druid.</p><p></p><p>And then, he bent and picked up the tortured and abused body of the wolf and carried it a short distance away, placing it on a rare patch of untrodden snow. Speaks shook his head with anger and grief and turned back on the ice fortress. Whatever was within would pay for the way it which it had defiled one of Nature's creatures. For what it had done to his friend.</p><p></p><p>Krase arrived at the druid's side just then. Looking down at the body of the wolf, he needed no explanation for what had happened or of what would happen next. The pair of them entered the ice fortress.</p><p></p><p><strong>NEXT: No Laughing Matter</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rel, post: 1067, member: 99"] [B]Icecapades[/B] The party girded themselves for battle, knowing that before the day was out they may well find themselves under attack by a substantial portion of the orcish army. All of them were grim at the prospect and especially Speaks with Stone. He knew that going into the midst of the orcs could well be a fatal mistake and that a large part of the reason the party was doing this was because of him. But nobody considered backing out. Speaks handed Krase his Amulet of Communication and transformed himself into a wolf. Krase then placed the amulet back around the neck of the lupine and Speaks took the lead, following the tracks that Arc had left the night before. The rest of the party fell into line. A short while later, the party could see that the woods were thinning ahead and could smell the smell of wood smoke. The reasoned that they must be at the northern edge of the clearing. They proceeded with caution. Up front, Speaks in wolf form spotted a pair of orcish pickets standing a short way inside the treeline from the clearing. At almost the same moment, one of the orcs also spotted him. The orc was heard to yell, "It is another of the wolves! We must tell the shamans!" He turned and ran into the clearing, followed closely by his compatriot. With the rest of the party well behind him, Speaks figure that they had little chance of killing the fleeing pickets before they reached the ice fortress. Instead, the group approached the edge of the clearing where they would enjoy a good vantage point for observing any approaching orcs while still having the cover of the forest. As they came closer, they began to notice an eerie quiet that they would not expect from an encampment of nearly a thousand orcs. Speaks had made his way to the edge of the clearing already and the rest of the party took up a position some 80 feet west of him. Once they could see into the clearing, they understood the reason for the quiet: There were no orcs anywhere to be seen. Then they realized that, listening intently, they could hear yelling in the distance. There were sounds of battle to the south. The ice fortress blocked their view but it was obvious that the orcs must have been assaulting the hill fort at that very moment! They had little time to contemplate the implications of this however, as a half dozen orcs emerged from the ice fortress and headed in their direction. Speaks transformed back into his human form and the party readied their missile weapons and waited for the orcs to come within range. But before the party fired a single shot, the orcs stopped and their shamans cast spells. Suddenly, the area around Krase and Rhys was thoroughly entangled in sticky webs like those of a spider. An instant later, Speaks was in the middle of a similar situation. Ilrath, just a few feet from where Rhys was entangled had escaped the sticky strands. He looked up to find the orcs charging in the direction of his helpless companions. Without a second thought, Ilrath charged from cover and into the midst of the orcs, swinging Slashbane with abandon. Two of the orcs fell before they could react. Two others moved around to flank Ilrath while one of the shamans stepped forward and touched the barbarian, sending a shocking jolt through him. As the rest of the party struggled in vain to escape the webs, Ilrath yelled a war cry and sliced the offending shaman in twain with Slashbane. The force of the blow carried through into one of the warriors next to him, severely wounding him. Both warriors hacked at the mighty barbarian but their blows slid harmlessly off of his dwarven forged, mithral, breastplate. Seeing that he was unlikely to survive the next few seconds unless he took drastic measures, the shaman conjured a globe of darkness around himself, Ilrath and both of the remaining orcish warriors. Still, Ilrath had seen both orcs only a moment before. He swung his axe and felt it sink into orcish flesh before him. He continued his swing around and again found his mark. Rhys had never actually been entangled in the webs conjured by the shamans but it had taken him some time to pick his way through the strands to get outside of the ball of sticky strands. Now he was clear and looking up, he saw a large ball of darkness. Beyond it, he could see one of the orcs fleeing back to the ice fortress. Those were all the observations he had time for as he heard Speaks calling for him. Ilrath was unsure of whether he had slain the last of the orcs inside the darkness. He also wasn't sure if the orcs could see through the inky blackness or not. He spent the next few seconds flailing around wildly with Slashbane as he stumbled forwards to escape the darkness. Meanwhile, Speaks had cast a spell upon himself to protect him from fire. He then entreated Rhys to use his wand of Burning Hands to burn through the webs. Rhys did as he bade and in moments, the druid was free of the webs. They then turned their attentions to where Krase was stuck. Ilrath had since made his way out of the darkness. He saw the one remaining shaman climbing a set of stairs that wound up the outside of ice fortress. Glancing back to see that his companions were all right, he gave chase to the fortress. Rhys was considering freeing Krase from the webs the same way he had freed Speaks. Krase wouldn't have the benefit of the Protection from Fire spell of course. But the flames weren't that hot. Ultimately he decided against that course of action, not out of any concern for Krase but because Tavis, his familiar, was also trapped inside the same cluster of webs. Krase, never the strongest member of the party, continued to struggle against the firm hold of the webs. He was confident that he would get out eventually (as soon as he rolled a 19 or better) but for the moment was still stuck. Ilrath raced across the trampled snow and began his way up the stairs chiseled into the side of the fortress. The stairs were naturally slippery but the Boots of the Winterlands he wore gave him good footing regardless. He continued his way to the top of the fortress where the shaman awaited him. Seeing that their barbarian friend may have been getting in over his head, Speaks and Rhys ran after him to lend their aid. Ilrath mounted the last few steps and found himself atop the fortress, face to face with the shaman. In a last desperate attempt to ward off the mighty warrior, the shaman raised his hands and let fly with a jet of flames that engulfed Ilrath. But Ilrath shrugged off the searing pain and brought Slashbane down in a tremendous blow that split the shaman's skull in two. For the moment, Ilrath was without a foe facing him and he turned around to survey things from the top of the ice fortress. He stared to the south to see that smoke surrounded the top of the hill fort. Several sections of the palisade were on fire and he could tell that fierce fighting was taking place where it had been breached. And surging forward, pushing and jostling their way toward the gaps in the palisade were far, far too many orcs for his people to hold against. Ilrath unconsciously swung Slashbane through the air in a gesture of frustration. Then he spoke aloud to those who could not hear, "Fight well my brothers and I will do what I can at this end!" He descended the ice stairs to seek a way inside the ice fortress to slay whatever enemies it held. As Ilrath was coming down, Rhys was going up. The agile youth had experienced little trouble negotiating the icy steps and, finding that Ilrath needed no help as of yet, ascended to get a better view. Below a grim realization was occurring. Speaks was afraid that at any moment, a flood of orcs would appear from the relatively small opening at the base of the fortress. He sprinted there to plug that exit until Ilrath or Krase (who was just now making his way clear of the last of the web strands) could assist him. When he got there, it was not orcs he found. It was Arc. Or, rather, what had once been Arc. What stood before Speaks now was the animated, stinking, charred corpse of his faithful companion. Speaks desperately sought Arc's eyes for any sign of recognition but he found only a pale blue malevolent glow. The Arc-Thing lunged for Speaks. The druid easily dodged the slow clumsy movements of the undead wolf. He tried to believe that the wolf moved so slowly because somewhere deep down, Arc was still there, fighting the evil presence within his flesh. But he had seen firsthand the re-animated forms of the wolves the orcs rode and knew that there was no vestige of the natural remaining in the creature before him. Speaks stabbed the thing that wore the flesh of his friend. He stabbed it again and again until it lay still, whatever evil force that had inhabited the wolf body, driven away by the violence done to it by the druid. And then, he bent and picked up the tortured and abused body of the wolf and carried it a short distance away, placing it on a rare patch of untrodden snow. Speaks shook his head with anger and grief and turned back on the ice fortress. Whatever was within would pay for the way it which it had defiled one of Nature's creatures. For what it had done to his friend. Krase arrived at the druid's side just then. Looking down at the body of the wolf, he needed no explanation for what had happened or of what would happen next. The pair of them entered the ice fortress. [B]NEXT: No Laughing Matter[/B] [/QUOTE]
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